PRESS UNDER THREAT

Media Women Journos’ Attacks
Blasted

The
Chairperson of the National Alliance of
Journalists Gender Council Ms. Sujata Madhok, the
President of the National Alliance of Journalists
(NAJ) and the Delhi Union of
Journalists(DUJ) Mr. SK Pande and the Secretary
General of the NAJ Mr. Koteswararao,
have blasted the spate of attacks on
women journalists this week . These range from a
petrol bomb thrown at an editor’s home,
death threats to a cartoonist for her critique of
Hindutva, and lastly the patronising pat on the
cheek of a woman journalist by the Governor of a
state!

We condemn these
incidents that reflect the special targeting of
media women, be it through physical violence,
vicious trolling on social media, filing of court
cases or the subtle aggression displayed in direct
interactions by politicians and others in power
today, the joint statement added.

In a dangerous attack a
petrol bomb was hurled at the home of Patricia
Mukhim, veteran journalist and editor of the North
East’s first English language daily the
Shillong Times, on April 17, 2018. Mukhim was
lucky to have escaped injury but it is evident
that her writings have aroused the anger of
unknown forces. Mukhim is a staunch feminist and
social activist, known to have repeatedly taken up
issues of gender justice, social justice and
environmental justice. She has written against gun
culture and extortion and violence by armed
militant groups in the North East. She has opposed
the large scale destruction of forest lands by
coal and cement companies in Meghalaya and the
rest of the region. She has also campaigned for a
greater role for women in public life, including
in village councils and other bodies that are
entirely male dominated. We demand that the attack
on Mukhim be immediately investigated and the
perpetrators brought to justice. We commend the
Shillong Press Club for its initiative in this
matter.

On Monday April 16, 2018
Hyderabad police filed an FIR against Swathi
Vadlamudi, cartoonist for The Hindu, for her
cartoon commenting on the Kathua and Unnao rapes.
A Hindu nationalist group had filed a complaint
about the cartoon that she had posted on her
Facebook page. The cartoon went viral on social
media, evoking both applause and angry
comments. We consider the filing of the FIR
against Vadlamudi an attack on the freedom of
speech and expression. Women cartoonists are a
rare, precious breed as they counter misogyny with
humour; they should be promoted, not prosecuted,
the NAJ-DUJ firmly believes.

The NAJ and DUJ also
condemns the behavior of Tamil Nadu Governor
Banwarilal Purohit at a Press Meet at the Raj
Bhavan in Chennai on April 17. When Lakshmi
Subramanian, a correspondent with The Week, asked
Purohit some difficult questions, he chose not to
reply but instead patted her on the cheek. They
say that this gesture is patronizing, sexist
and offensive to a woman professional. It could
even be construed as sexual harassment. It
joins the Press Club of Chennai and several
women journos in demanding an unconditional
apology from the Governor.

Sd/-
Sd/-
Sd/-

SK
Pande
M.Koteswararao
Sujata Madhok

President – DUJ
Secretary
General -NAJ
Chair
Gender Equity
Council of NAJ